It's Where My Heart was Made
by hotterhatter2211
Summary: Daryl was trying hard to be a good father to Judith. He would do anything his little girl asked him to. One trip to the park changes that when he meets a blue eyed man. He can't help but feel drawn to the other man, and the other male doesn't seem to mind all to much either.


So. I am gonna try and actually try and do a few chapters for this. I am thinking no more than 6. So it will just be a small short story kinda. Anyways. I hope you all like it! Sorry if it seems a bit OOC. It was hard to write Daddy Daryl~

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><p><em><strong>It's Where My Heart was Made<strong>_

_Chapter One: Like Kids in a School Yard_

"Dad! Daddddd!" Judith yells up to her father, tugging at his shirt. "You promised!" Her face turning into a pout at the idea of not getting what she wants. Daryl never would admit it, but she had him wrapped around her little finger. "I wanna go to the park."

Daryl finally eyes down at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Tha' ain't how ya ask nicely." He mutters back with a grimace on his face. Judith gets a grin on her face, already knowing she had won out in the end.

"Pleeeease can we go ta the park today?" Judith puts her hands together in her please. "An' no' the crappy one neither. Ya said ya would take me to the fun one."

Daryl rolls his eyes, "Ya been spendin' too much time with yer uncle. Remember, language." He suggests letting out a sigh. "Fine. Go get ready an' let me finish with this." He motions to some paperwork that he had been filling out before being rudely interrupted. Judith lets out a squeal of joy before running off to her room. Daryl gets a small grin on his lips as he chuckles, moving the paperwork in order thinking he could fill it out after their little excursion.

It only takes a minute before Judith is rushing in front of him again, "Let's go!" She grabs hold of his hand and pulls her father along towards the door. She only pauses to grab a light jacket and putting it on. Daryl does the same as her. He moves out the door, motioning her to follow as he locks the small mobile home.

"This is gonna be so much fun. Can ya push me on the swing?" Judith asks, glancing over to Daryl as she practically drags him through the streets. Daryl knew how much she enjoyed the swings the most and gives a small nod of his head. "An' ya gotta play tag with me too!"

The walk continues much in the same way, Judith telling Daryl what exactly he would be doing with her at the park. Daryl just going along with it, knowing the girl would be completely wiped out before they got to everything in the park. Only half way through the walk Judith began to complain about her feet hurting which made Daryl pick her up. It only takes them 10 minutes to get to the park. It was a bit of a hike as they didn't have one in their neighborhood.

When they finally got to their destination, Daryl puts her down. "Go run an' play with the other kids fer a bit. I'll be on the bench. We'll do the swings when one o' them open up." He ruffles her hair, before turning and taking a seat on one of the benches. Judith beams at him for one more minute before running off to play.

"She seems like a handful." A voice to his side makes him look away. The man has a small amount of scruff on his chin. The other man's hair not long enough to completely encase his face, but still had a bit of a curl. What caught Daryl's attention however was the bright blue eyes.

Daryl quickly looks back to the park with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Ain't so bad. She jus' knows she can get 'way with too much shit." He explains as he shifts not use to other parents talking to him. Most of them tended to stay as far away as they can, having heard of the Dixons before."

"I'm Rick." The man doesn't seem to take the hint, reaching a hand out in greeting. Daryl furrows his eyebrows together before reaching out and shaking his back.

"Daryl." He answers back. "Don' think I have seen ya 'round here. Ya new?" He couldn't help but ask.

The man, Rick, gives him a smile in return. "Is it that obvious? I just moved in down the street from here. Carl kept complaining about being stuck in the house so we came here." Rick gives a shrug of his shoulders, leaning back a bit more on the bench. "I can't say I have seen you around either."

"Hell, the way ya spoke ta me before makes me know ya don' know crap 'round here." Daryl chuckles softly, slowly relaxing.

Rick's eyes move through the park as Daryl spoke. "Sorry. Don't know the proper way of greeting people here. You guys do way hello right?" His tone is light and joking as he spoke.

Daryl can't help but enjoy the small talk they were having. His lips curving up into a smile of his own. "Nah. We would much rather punch each other first."

"Sounds painful. Maybe you guys should change that to something that won't get you locked up for punching someone." Rick says back with ease on his lips. The way he spoke coming naturally from the sounds of it.

"Ya jus' need ta man u-." A scream breaks them both from their conversation. Daryl glances around quickly, his eyes moving to see Judith next to the swing screaming and crying loudly. Without a look back, he jumps up rushing towards her. He kneels down next to her scanning her over to see if she got a cut or something. "W-Wha' happened? Are ya alright?" He questions, concern laced in each words.

"He cut in front o' me!" Judith wales even louder. Daryl releases a breath of relief when he finds out what caused her to react that way.

He turns to see a kid sitting on a swing looking like he was in shock. "I didn't! She wasn't even waiting." He says after a moment, breaking out of his surprise. He doesn't move from the swing, his expression showing he had no idea how to respond to the screaming child.

Daryl turns back to Judith, his fingers wiping away her tears. "Now Judith, did he see ya waitin'?" He asks, his tone light, but still holding a tone that she knew she couldn't lie to. "We can give 'im a chance, then get on. Ya can' go 'round screamin' like tha' jus' cause he took the swing."

"I-I guess-," Judith hiccups as she tries to calm herself back down. "Bu' I've been waitin' a real long time."

Daryl sighs, "Don' mean ya can jus' yell at people like tha'."

"Uncle Merle does." Judith murmurs, looking towards the ground in embarrassment for upsetting her father.

"Merle ain't someone ya need ta be lookin' to ta be friendly with other people." Daryl stands back up, picking up Judith in the process. He holds her to his side as she crams her face into his shoulder. "How 'bout we get ya some ice cream an' then get on the swings."

"We'll pay for it." Rick comes up, having watched the interaction much to Daryl's surprise. He hadn't even notice the man follow him. "Since Carl was the one to cause it." The boy looks Rick like he wants to argue. "Come on. I saw an ice cream parlor not too far from here. Let me pay for it." The man says, his attention back to Daryl a smile still on his lips.

Daryl looks back, a bit hesitant now. "Alright." He murmurs, nodding his head in agreement. "I can—I won' be 'gaint tha'."

"Are we getting' ice cream?" Judith murmurs to her father.

"Yep. Yer favorite kind to." Daryl tries to cheer up his daughter.

Judith gets a small smile back on his lips. "Can I share with ya too?" she asks, getting another nod from her father.


End file.
